The Snippets
by Massacre13
Summary: A series of one-shots from between the two stories 'Lending a Helping Hand' and 'Can't Let Go' exploring the adventures Stephanie Edgley gets up to without the Sanctuary. Expect some freindly and not-so freindly faces showing up again!
1. 1 - A Visit from Old freinds

**Hello to all who've read or are currently reading my series of Skulduggery Pleasant fanfictions! In this series of one-shots you will find chapters that did not make it into the final two stories. I hope you enjoy! Be sure to favourite, follow and comment to let me know what you guys think of this! It will be being updated when I finished a few more, so don't worry, it's not as short as you think. ;)**

* * *

**September 3rd**

**Approx. 3 months after leaving the Sanctuary**

* * *

Stephanie sat back in the armchair, rubbing her eyes. Mornings were rotten. The morning before you leave for University, now that was the _worst_. She was amazed anywhere had even accepted her, but Galway seemed like a good choice (until the acceptance letter came through the post she hadn't even know the reflection had _applied_ to University). It was close enough that she could get home quickly if she needed to, and far enough away from Dublin to let her relax a little and forget about… things.

Melissa came down stairs with Alice in her arms.

"Morning Steph. How did you sleep?"

"Fine thanks," Stephanie smiled tiredly. It was a lie, of course, Darquesse still frequented her dreams like the plague, cursing her, making her pay for leaving magic behind. Like she said she would. Desmond and Melissa had noticed how Stephanie was always tired at the beginning of the summer, a week or so after she'd got back from Hogwarts. Since then 'how did you sleep?' had become a regular question.

Alice ran up to her and jumped up onto her lap, waving her arms in Stephanie's face.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Melissa asked with an excited grin of her own. Stephanie shrugged.

"Nervous," she answered. Melissa smiled and walked over to her eldest daughter, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"You'll be fine."

"Yeah, you're right," Stephanie said with a slight smile, although she was pretty sure that she didn't believe herself. Alice grunted in displeasure as she realised Stephanie's attention was not on her, and fidgeted in her lap.

"Stephanie!" Alice demanded impatiently, "Stephanie!"

"What is it, little monster? Huh? Little monster?" Stephanie grabbed Alice and tickled her ribs as her sister squealed delightedly.

"Alright, trouble, let's go and get some breakfast. Would you like some, Steph?"

"No thanks, I'll get some later," Stephanie replied. Alice, on the other hand, appeared to be very hungry, jumping off Stephanie's lap and running into the kitchen almost in the same second the word 'breakfast' was mentioned. Melissa rolled her eyes and followed the giddy two-year-old into the kitchen.

Stephanie sighed. How could she have thought she could tell her family anything about _that place?_ About _those people_? They would never have been able to cope with that kind of knowledge. It was better this way, even if it meant she could never see her friends again, and her demonically evil other side would haunt her at every moment of her life. Yup. It was _definitely_ better this way.

She looked at the floor glumly and sighed, thinking of what Skulduggery, Tanith and Ghastly might have been up to at that particular moment in time. Tanith and Ghastly would probably be making up for the time Tanith spent as a remnant. Would Skulduggery be working on a case?

That thought made her even more depressed – Skulduggery on a case _without her_. Or, just maybe, was he trying to think of a way to persuade her to come back? But, he hadn't talked to her since _that_ night. She hadn't seen him since either. No phone call. No nothing. She didn't know whether she was pleased or insulted – pleased that he'd taken her seriously, insulted that he valued her so little. A little bit of both she suspected.

The doorbell of the Edgely estate made her look up, a little startled. Who would call this early? Could it be…? No, no, it wasn't. But, still, until she looked, she couldn't be sure…

She jumped up from the armchair.

"I'll get it!" She called so her voice would carry through to the kitchen as she hurried to the door, trying not to be _too_ quick. If it was him, if it just _happened _to be him, he'd be able to hear her approaching, and she didn't want to seem too **desperate**.

**Desperate?** Where had that come from? She wasn't **desperate**. Sure, she wasn't _happy_ either, but she wasn't **desperate**. Her family was safe – the objective of leaving had been completed, and would only continue to be completed as long as she was as far away from the sanctuary as she could possibly be. Still, she found herself running a hand over her hair to make sure it was presentable, and making sure all the sleep was out of her eyes, the bags underneath them as obscure as possible, before she opened the door.

The sight that faced her wasn't the one she'd been expecting, or even hoping secretly for. Two tall ginger-headed faces grinned at her, accompanied by a very tired looking teen with dark hair.

"Sorry," Seamus said immediately "they woke me up this morning and wouldn't leave until I brought the here."

"That's ok," Stephanie said with a smile "That's great, in fact. Come in." She held the door open to let Seamus, Fred and George into the house. "But, no magic, guys. My parents are in."

"Yep, Seamus here has us well informed," Fred said with a nod. Stephanie closed the door behind them against the chilly air.

"And remember, it's _Stephanie_ now, ok?"

"You got it, Steph," George winked. Stephanie sighed, and then hugged the three of them simultaneously. Although seemingly a little startled for the first millisecond, they all hugged back with as much sincerity as she thought was possible.

"We'll probably have to go somewhere private to talk. I'm sure Gordon won't mind if we use his study. In fact, he'll be in there. You can meet him."

"Steph!" Melissa called from the kitchen "Who's at the door?"

"School friends!" Stephanie replied.

"Do we get to meet your mum?" Fred asked with a mischievous grin,

"Ummm," Too late, her mother walked in from the kitchen, a little smile appearing on her face. "Oh, hey mum. These are some of my friends, from the school I went to in England last year."

"Oh wow," Melissa smiled "and Seamus too. How are you doing, dear?"

"Fine thanks, Mrs Edgely." Seamus said politely.

"Mum, this is Fred and George Weasley. Fred and George, this is my mum, Melissa." _Please God don't pull a prank. Please God don't pull a prank. Please God…_

"We've heard so much about you from Stephanie," Fred said, stepping forwards to shake Melissa's hand.

"But words can only say so much," George finished, also stepping up to shake Melissa's hand, who looked slightly bewildered. _Oh God please tell me they're not going to pull out a pick-up-line, please tell me they're not going to politely flirt with my mother…_ Stephanie could see it now, one of them was bound to kiss her hand or something stupid like that, or say they looked like sisters.

"Yeah, Steph never mentioned how identical you look," George grinned,

"You could be sisters,"

"Twins in fact,"

"Ok, that's enough for now!" Stephanie said, hurrying forwards "We'll just go upstairs and catch up. Bye mum!" She grabbed the twins and pushed them away, Seamus rolling his eyes as he followed.

"Ok," Melissa said, in a slight daze, "If you want anything, I'll be in the kitchen!"

"Ok!" Stephanie called back as she dragged the twins upstairs, and then took a moment to glare furiously at them before shaking her head.

"Really?"

"What?" They asked simultaneously, both grinning identically.

"If she wasn't downstairs, I'd be kicking both of your asses by now," she scowled, "anyway, Gordon's study is this way. Follow me." She turned and walked down the hallway, passing door after door.

"Your house is _huge_," Fred exclaimed.

"Well, we _are_ on an estate. This is Edgely Manor. My uncle Gordon owned it before he died, and then left it to me in his will, along with his fortune and all his assets. But, I don't really consider it mine."

"Whoa,"

"So, are you just rich or what?"

"My uncle was a writer, and he was fairly rich, although it never crossed my mind for a second that I would get _anything_ in his will."

"What kind of things did he write?" George asked.

"Horror novels mostly. Bestsellers. My mum wouldn't let me read them when I was twelve, but I did anyway." She shrugged, and then turned to the bookcase and put her hand on a lever that was disguised as a medieval torch. Oh, Gordon. She pulled the level down with a slight smile on her face and the bookcase slid open to reveal Gordon's study.

"He was very… melodramatic."

"Still am, thank you." Echo-Gordon said curtly. Stephanie grinned.

"Guys, this is my Uncle Gordon. Uncle Gordon, these are my friends from Hogwarts: Seamus, Fred and George."

"Are they intelligent and humorous?"

"Very."

"Glad to meet you, boys," Echo-Gordon grinned "I'd shake your hands, but that always gives me a turn. Still not used to it."

"Do you mind if we use the room to talk Gordon? It's just mum's downstairs, and I'd rather she didn't hear anything."

"Not at all. I was going to take a nap anyway. Just tap the cradle when you're done."

"Thanks," Stephanie grinned as echo-Gordon stood, stretched, and then tapped the cradle on his desk. He disappeared instantly, returning to the echo-stone.

"Come on in," Stephanie said, closing the bookcase door behind them.

"I thought you said he left you the manor in his will?" Fred said,

"Yeah. There's this thing called an Echo-stone where a living person can imprint a part of themselves so that they can leave a part of them behind when they die. Essentially, they'll live on, but the imprints aren't actually _alive_."

"So, he's a ghost?"

"Something like that."

"Cool." Fred smiled,

"A manor wouldn't be complete without its own ghost," George agreed. Stephanie sat down and gestured to the other chairs in the study.

"So, what brings you to Ireland?" She smiled, but Fred and George glanced to each other.

"Well, we heard that you'd quit your job," George said tentatively,

"We thought something might be wrong," Fred continued,

"So we came to see if you were ok." George finished. Stephanie pursed her lips into a thin line and sighed.

"Yeah. I'm fine. She said shortly "I just, I need to make sure my family is safe from all that. That's all. As long as I worked for the Sanctuary" she paused for a second as she internally winced, "none of them were safe." She finished.

"But, couldn't you balance the two?" Seamus asked.

"I used to, back when I had the reflection. But we all know how that turned out." There was a moment of silence until Stephanie cleared her throat and plastered a smile on her face.

"But what about you?" She asked "How's life away from school? Have you left permanently?"

"Oh, yeah," Fred said with a mischievous grin, although she knew her words would be circulating in their heads as they tried to understand.

"We've got our own business,"

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes,"

"on Diagon Alley."

"It's really popular."

"But with you-know-who about,"

"people need a laugh nowadays,"

"a bit of a giggle,"

"and we aim to please." It was almost as if one person were talking the whole way through, purely because the'd just continued to finish each others sentecnes in their identical voices. Stephanie realised with a pang in her chest just how much she'd missed them, but smiled anyway at their news.

"That's great. I'm guessing it's a joke shop or something?"

"Yeah, it's great," George nodded.

"My mam took me to see it last week, it's absolutely brilliant," Seamus nodded. George and Fred shrugged simulateneously, as if their success could not be topped – and they knew it.

"I'd come and see it myself if I could, but I'm kind of busy," Stephanie said apologetically.

"Why?"  
"What are you doing?"

"Well, I have to finish packing. I'm going to University tomorrow." The reactions were mixed. Seamus stared, wide-eyed, and then grinned.

"Wow, well done Steph. I didn't even know you'd applied." He said, and she smiled at him. George and Fred, on the other hand, were looking at her with a puzzled look on their faces.

"What's University?"

"Well, it's like, the next up from Hogwarts, but for muggles."

"So, it's school?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"Um, why is that a good thing?" Fred asked.

"Universities are difficult to get into," Seamus explained "you'll only be accepted if they think you're worth their time." He turned back to her "Good luck, Steph. You'll do great."

"I hope so," she said, smiling shakily. "Anyway, how's Harry, Ron and Hermione?"

"Ron's fine," Fred shrugged.

"Hermione turned up at our house a few days ago."

"Yeah, she's alright too."

"But, Harry…"

"He's not doing so well."

"Why? What's wrong with him?" Stephanie asked, sudenly concerned. Had Voldemort gotten to him again?

"He's just… worried."

"And stressed."  
"And angry."

"And annoyed."

"And-"

"Ok, I get it. Has Voldem-"

"Don't say his name!"

"Ok, ok. Sorry. Has 'you-know-who', gotten to him again?" Fred and George glanced to each other.

"Not that we know of," George said slowly,

"But it's all very tense," Fred finished "Everyone's kind of watching their backs at the moment."

"There's been a lot of dissapearances,"

"Mum's getting really worried,"

"Especially after Dad got attacked last year,"

"She's getting a bit… paranoid."

"Not that you can blame her,"

"You never know who to trust these days." Stephanie nodded as they looked nervously between themselves.

"There's not been many dissapeareances in Ireland yet," Seamus said to her "But they'll be over here next. Be careful, Stephanie. You-know-who won't have forgotten you that quickly."

"Always am," she smiled gently. "You guys stay careful too." They nodded, and Seamus stood.

"I'd best be going. I told mam I wouldn't be gone for too long."

"Yeah, us too. Mum doesn't like us staying away for too long nowadays." They all stood, and Stephanie hugged them again.

"Stay safe. If you ever need anything, well, I might not be here, but if you just say you're my friend, mum'll probably let you in." She said as the trio hugged back.

"You too Steph."

"If you have any trouble talk to my mam," Seamus said to her, "She'll be able to apparate you to us."

"Right," Stephanie nodded. "I've missed you guys."

"We've missed you too, Steph." They grinned, and then linked arms. Fred turned to George.

"Shall we make our leave, Mr Weasley?"

"I think we shall, Mr Weasley." They grinned at each other, waved goodbye, and then dissapeared with a large '_crack'_. Apparating. Stephanie smiled at the spot where they'd been, and then sighed. She reall had missed her old friends. Hopefully, they weren't going to be in too much trouble at Hogwarts this year.


	2. 2 - New Start

**September 5th**

**Approx. 3 months after leaving the Sanctuary**

* * *

She walked in the lecture hall and took a seat, not too close to the front, but not too far to the back either, and watched as her fellow classmates filed in. It felt so strange to be back at school, albeit it a University, but to just be learning in general about something that wasn't how not to get killed was just… strange. Unfamiliar. She felt as if she were going to school for the first time all over again. Alone. Afraid. A tinge of excitement pricking her spine. But no parents to wave her off proudly. There were safe at home (well, at the Edgely Manor – it would be some time before they left, after all, they still weren't sure whether they wanted to re-build their old home or just buy a new one).

After a while, the lecture hall began to fill, and a girl with sandy blonde hair sat next to her.

"Hi, I'm Abigail Hartness."

"Stephanie Edgely." Abigail held her hand out to shake, and Stephanie took it, slightly cautiously. She didn't mean to be cautious, but after so many years of working at the Sanctuary with possible traitors or people that could turn around and kill you at any second, she guessed it had been drummed into her.

Abigail looked to be around Stephanie's age. She was tall, slim, but not caked in make-up as someone might have expected. She was naturally pretty. It was just a little irritating.

The lecturer entered, striding briskly. For a moment Stephanie thought it was Skulduggery who had walked through the door, but no, her mind was playing tricks on her again. Although it was fair to say the lecturer did bear a resemblance. He was tall, slender, and wore a smart suit. His voice on the other hand, was course and rough, not at all like Skulduggery's velvety smooth tone. It was a painful reminder of what she was now missing. Still, she had managed to get to University – that had to mean she had at least _some_ potential of leading a normal life.

The lecturer began by reading out a chapter of his favourite novel '_Misery_' by Stephen King. It was a very dramatic chapter, one that both raised tension and set the scene for the rest of the novel. When he had finished, the lecturer than went on to say exactly how and why this was his favourite novel, and what made it so effective. Stephanie made sure she was taking notes, but at the back of her mind, it all felt a bit… mundane. Gordon hadn't gone to lectures on how to be a good writer, of that she was fairly sure, but he'd been brilliant anyway. _The problem with that is_, Stephanie told herself, _you're _not_ a great writer. And you're not Gordon either. _

The lecture seemed to last forever, and although she didn't feel like she had learned anything, she was sure it would help later. At some point. Eventually.

She was on her way back to her dorm when a voice called her down.

"Stephanie! Hey! Steph!" She turned, and saw Abigail running after her. "Hey," she grinned "we and a few friends were going to that new eat-in café down the street for lunch. Want to join us?" Stephanie thought about it silently. On the one hand, this girl seemed nice enough, and she was fairly hungry, and it wasn't as if she had anything planned. On the other, she didn't know these people, and she wasn't very social, she'd probably be better off by herself. She thought about it, and  
then smiled a little.

"Alright, if that's ok with your friends," She might as well start somewhere, after all, it might do her good to get some new friends. Since she'd left the Sanctuary she'd spent most of her time either in her room, alone, possibly crying or moping, or with Gordon in his study, possibly crying or moping. At first she'd thought seeing Fred, George and Seamus would be good for her, and it _had_ helped, initially, but now… well. She had to move on. There was no point dwelling on the past if she wasn't going back.

"Well come on then," Abigail smiled, and took her by the arm, leading her back in the direction they'd come. Outside of the dormitory complex were three girls and two boys. Abigail pulled Stephanie to her side.

"Stephanie, this is Verity, Mary, Sarah, Daniel, and my brother, John. Guys, this is Stephanie." She managed a weak smile. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Anyway, me and Dan gotta go. See you guys later. Nice to meet you Stephanie." John said with a little wave, and the girls chorused 'bye'. Stephanie nodded politely.

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way, let's get some lunch!"

Stephanie closed the door to her dorm room and sighed. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. Had it only been an hour she'd spent with them? Lunatics, the lot of them – but then she suspected that was how teenagers her age were supposed to behave, laughing and chatting and just being that _little_ _bit_ too loud. Talking about boys and hair and lessons and plans for the future.

She sat on her bed and put her head in her hands. Maybe she'd stepped up a bit _too_ soon. Maybe she just wasn't ready for this yet. For being around people her own age again. She remembered telling Hermione back during her time at Hogwarts that she hardly ever spent time around people her own age. She was only now just realising how much that had affected her.

She looked at her study books, and then looked at her laptop. Looking between them, she sighed again and pulled the laptop to her lap. Turning it on, she waited for it to load and tried to clear her thoughts. If she was going to be a writer, she would have to have an idea. And she suspected she had a good one. And she knew just the title to go with it.

When the laptop loaded, she opened a word document, and thought. She'd need an alias, just for now. Maybe a male name. No one would suspect her then. She'd pluck one out of thin air for now, maybe change it later.

She typed the title and put the authors name beneath it, and then smiled slightly. She could already sense, from these five words, that this story, would be a sensation.

SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT

BY DEREK LANDY


	3. 3 - Horcrux Hunters pt 1

**December 14th**

**Approx. 1 year and 5 months since leaving the Sanctuary**

* * *

A knock on the door interrupted Stephanie from her homework (of course it would be typical of the professors to set her homework over the Christmas holidays). She sighed, her concentration broken, and stood. The rain lashed against the windows as she approached the doors, thunder rumbling in the distance. The weather had been rather odd as of late. Stephanie didn't think much of it – it was December after all.

Another knock on the door.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming," she called, hoping whoever it was wouldn't make too much more noise – Alice was asleep in bed. It had taken Stephanie _ages_ to get her to the point of sleep (Melissa and Desmond were out on a romantic early-Christmas dinner-date, so naturally, Stephanie had taken on the role as super-sitter).

As her hand touched the doorknob, she was reminded of her first night alone in Edgely Manor after Gordon had died – how the convict broke in, Skulduggery kicking down this very door to save her. Innocent little Stephanie. She pushed the thought aside, and opened the door. The two soggy faces that she found herself looking at as she opened the door, were not the ones she was expecting (even though she hadn't really been expecting anyone anyway).

"Harry? Hermione? What are you doing here?"

"Can we come in?" Harry asked, and Stephanie remembered it was raining heavily.

"Yeah, come on in. God, you must be freezing." She opened the door wider and stepped out of the way, allowing them to walk in quickly. She closed and locked the door behind them. Both of them were drenched from head to toe, Hermione's hair sticking to her cheeks, woollen hat a lump of mush on her head. Harry was no better, water dripping from his chin as his teeth chattered together with cold.

"The fire's on, come on, we'll get you warmed up in no time," she said gently "do you have a change of clothes or something that's at least a little dryer? You're going to catch hypothermia or something if you don't get dry soon."

"Valkyrie, we need to talk to you."

"It's Stephanie now, but ok. Sit down, go on, you both look exhausted."

"Thanks," Harry said gratefully as he sat on a chair near the fire, Hermione doing the same.

"What can I do for you?" Stephanie asked, also sitting. "Where's Ron? Isn't he with you?" Harry and Hermione looked to each other. Hermione looked down, and Harry looked to Stephanie.

"The Death Eaters have taken over Hogwarts."

"What? But what about Dumbledore? Surely he can stop it."

"Dumbledore's dead." Harry said quietly "Snape killed him."

"Oh my God," she said "Since when?"

"The end of last summer," Harry answered "After that it was made compulsory for students to go to Hogwarts. Death Eaters are everywhere. In Hogwarts, in the Ministry. They're getting rid of all the muggleborns. They have full control of all the dementors."

"And anyone who doesn't do as they say, dies." Hermione finished, not looking up.

"It's obvious what would have happened if we'd gone back, so Hermione Ron and I left to… do some things Dumbledore asked us to do before he died." Harry sounded as if he were phrasing his words very carefully. "A month or so ago, me and Ron had an argument, and he left. We haven't seen him since."

"Well, is that a bad thing or a good thing or…?"

"We don't know." Harry responded. "He could have gone back to the new Burrow with his family, or he could be dead. We just don't know."

"I don't think he'll be dead, Harry," Stephanie said, in an attempt to comfort him "after all, Ron was part of your Army, when I was there, right? He can defend himself. He'll be fine."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. I do."

"We've been moving every few days," Hermione said "to stay in one place for too long just isn't safe. We've had to put up protective spells everywhere we go, but it's getting more difficult. The Death Eaters just seem to be everywhere."

"Well, you're more than welcome to stay here for as long as you like," Stephanie said immediately "There are plenty of spare bedrooms and bathrooms. We have plenty of food. I'll see if I have any dry clothes in your size Hermione. Harry, if you don't mind them being a bit big, I'm sure I could find some of my dad's clothes for you to wear."

"That's alright, Stephanie, you don't have to do that." Harry responded "if we could just stay for a little while we'll be out of your hair in no time."

"Stay as long as you need. The weathers not supposed to be getting any better. Besides, I'll bet you haven't slept in a proper bed or had a good shower for a while. Am I right?"

"Yeah," Hermione nodded slowly "you're right."

"Ok."

"Stephanie!" Gordon's voice called through the house as he came down he stairs.

"Shhh Uncle Gordon! I just got Alice to sleep!"

"Oh, sorry. I just thought I heard voices."

"You did," Stephanie rolled her eyes "Guys this is my Uncle Gordon. Gordon, these are two of my friends from Hogwarts that I told you about. This is Harry Potter and this is Hermione Granger."

"Are they-"

"Yes, uncle, they are intelligent and humorous." Stephanie rolled her eyes again.

"Wonderful!"

"They're going to be staying here for a while, if that's alright with you, of course."

"Of course. It's  
not as if it's my house anymore, dear." He winked at her, and she grinned.

"Thanks. Are you two hungry?"

"Famished."

"I'll go get something. I'm not a great cook, so it'll probably be toast, if that's ok."

"Anything is great. Thanks, Stephanie."

"No problem." She stood "You two get warmed up and I'll go make some toast and hope I don't burn the house down in the process." She gave a little smile, and then walked into the kitchen, past her homework, and put bread in the toaster. She got milk from the fridge and poured two drinks. By the time the toast was done, buttered and on the plate, she had avoided burning down the house. Harry and Hermione wolfed it down, and Stephanie wondered just _how long_ it had been since they had last eaten. They both looked skinner, and a little more grown up.

The sound of tyres pulling onto the drive interrupted her thoughts.

"Gordon! Mum and dad are home!"

"I'm going, I'm going. Consider me gone!" He said, throwing his hands up in the air and hurrying up the stairs.

"Don't mention seeing my Uncle," Stephanie said quickly.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"He's dead." Stephanie replied grimly "If you said you'd seen him they'd think you were crazy, and that wouldn't be a good first impression." Stephanie stood and hurried to the door, took a deep breath out as she listened to the car doors closing, and then opened the door with a smile.

"Hi mum. Hi dad. How was dinner?"

"It was lovely, Steph. Thanks for babysitting."

"No problem. But, um, I have a favour to ask."

"Steph, we're not even through the door yet. Come on, it's pouring it down out here, let us in." She stepped aside and let them in.

"That's better. Did Alice behave?"  
"Yeah, she was fine," Stephanie said "Well, she took a little while to get to sleep, but she's asleep now." Stephanie let out a little laugh. Melissa looked at her.

"Steph, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Actually, you know that favour I was talking about?"

"Steph can it wait a little while? Can't we talk about it in the morning?"

"Um, not really," she said, and that was when Desmond spotted Harry and Hermione, who stood cautiously.

"Steph I thought we said no parties while I'm not here," Desmond rolled his eyes, and Melissa spotted them as well.

"Ok, mum, I know this is a little short notice, but can they stay for a little while? Please?"

"Steph do you even know them?" Melissa whispered to her, and Harry and Hermione glanced to each other nervously.

"They're some friends of mine, from the boarding school in England that I went to, remember?" Melissa made a sort of 'oooh' noise, as if she suddenly understood everything "And, they basically missed their ferry back to England, so they just need somewhere to stay for a couple of days until they can change the tickets for another one back over. Can they stay?"

"We'll be no trouble Mrs Edgely, we swear," Hermione said quickly. Melissa looked at them, and then back to Stephanie.

"Well, if they're friends of yours, then I suppose it's alright. But you're still on the no-party rule, Steph."

"No parties. Promise." Stephanie nodded.

"Well alright then." Melissa nodded, and then walked further into the house "It's nice to meet you both," she said politely. Hermione shook her hand gratefully.

"Thank you so much,"

"We won't forget this," Harry said, also shaking Melissa's hand after Hermione.

"Come on guys, I'll show you the guest bedrooms," Stephanie said with a little smile, and led them upstairs.

"Thanks you Stephanie, Harry said "We owe you one."

"You don't owe me anything. Just get as much of a good night's sleep as you can, and don't worry about a thing. You can put up your protective spells if you want, but I don't think anyone will look for you here," Stephanie smiled, and led the way to the end of the hall.

"Here's one," She opened the door on the left and then turned around "and here's another. I'm guessing you want to be within yelling distance of each other, although I wouldn't advise that if you don't want to be told off by my parents."

"That's great," Hermione said, walking into the room on the right.

"There should be an en suite in each room, but the bathroom's the door next to the stairs on this side if you need it, and if you need me I'm at the other end of the hall on the left."

"Thanks,"

"Get some sleep." She smiled, and the doors closed.

* * *

Stephanie didn't sleep much that night. Seeing Hermione and Harry again had stirred up unwanted memories of Darquesse's time at Hogwarts. The look on their faces, the people she killed, the way each hallucination showed the world burning around her…

She had learned long ago not to scream. That didn't stop her from waking up in a cold sweat, shaking, her eyes and cheeks damp with silent salty tears. She sat up in bed. The air was cold. For a second she wondered if it had been snowing outside, and then dismissed the thought. The weather wasn't exactly the most important thing she had to worry about at that moment.

She left her room and crept to the bathroom, trying to avoid the floorboards that would creak beneath her feet. She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, how her eyes drooped, bloodshot, her pale cheeks shivering, a glistening shine over them from a mixture of sweat and tears.

She turned the tap on and washed her face until she looked less like a nightmare and then sighed.

"Stephanie?" She span around, to see Melissa stood in the doorway. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she responded immediately, and her mum raised an eyebrow at her. "Honestly. I'm fine. It was just a nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." There was a pause.

"You know," Melissa said hesitantly "that you can always talk to me. About anything, Steph."

"I know, mum. But it was just a stupid nightmare. It's not worth talking about." She tried to walk past, but Melissa held her arm out, blocking the doorway.

"It doesn't look like that to me," she said sternly "What's bothering you sweetie?"

"It's just…" Stephanie sighed, "I just, keep thinking about the fire. What might have happened if you hadn't woken up in time, or, Mrs Finnigan hadn't come to help you…," Melissa's eyes softened.

"Oh honey." She pulled her into a hug "Don't worry about any of that. We can't keep dwelling on 'what ifs'. We all made it out. We're all ok. That's what matters."

"Yeah," Stephanie whispered through her mother's hair "I guess so."

Down the hallway, Hermione's door closed silently.


End file.
